On 14 February 1942, General Władysław Sikorski, Chief Leader, ordered the conversion of the Armed Forces Union into the National Army. It brought together about 200 combat organizations in its ranks and at its highest it had 350–380,000 soldiers. The Home Army was an integral part of the Polish Armed Forces and was subject to the Chief Chief and the government of Poland in exile.
Partisan branch of the National Army Captain Hieronim Decutowski, ps. Dam, operating in Lublin.
"Following my order of 3 September 1940, I am abolishing the name of the Armed Forces Union for interior use. All soldiers in active military service in the country are the National Army subordinate to the General, as its commander. Mr General's position is named Commander of the Home Army" – the order was General Władysław Sikorski, Chief Leader, dated February 14, 1942, addressed to General Stefan Rowecki "Grota".
The seed of this underground army was tied up at night from 26 to 27 September 1939 in the besieged Warsaw conspiracy Polish triumph Service, converted shortly afterwards to OGM. “The replacement of the ZWZ-etu in the AK was not only a change of name, it besides emphasized the apolitical character of the military organization and raised its rank to the name of the underground Polish army, which is part of the Polish Armed Forces subordinate to the Chief Leader and the Government of Poland in exile”, says Dr. Tadeusz Kaliski, historian of the past of the Polish Underground State.
This was besides intended to aid consolidate the underground armed forces and subjugate them to the government in London. That's what happened. In the ranks of the AK, about 200 military underground organizations were united, including the Secret Army Poland, the Secret Military Organization, the Armed Confederation, the Socialist Combat Organization, the Polish Freedom Union and partially the National Military Organization, the Boys' Battalions and the National Armed Forces. The AK is considered the largest and best organized underground military in the German-occupied Europe. – It is estimated that at the highest of the moment, in the summertime of 1944, its forces were about 350–380,000 soldiers – says the historian.
"Gary Wilk" – German Transporter Sd.Kfz.251, captured by insurgents from the “Krybar” Group for the 5th SS Division “Viking”. photograph taken on Tamka Street.
AK Chief Commandant was subject to Chief Chief. The first AK commander became General Stefan Rowecki ‘Grot’, Head of the EGM. After his arrest on June 30, 1943, the AK took the lead General Tadeusz Komorowski “Bór”and October 2, 1944 after the fall Warsaw Uprising This function was taken over by Gen. Leopold Okulicki, “The Bear”. The AK operated in the territory of the full Polish state occupied by the 3rd Reich and the russian Union. “The main task of the Home Army was to liberate from occupation, including the preparation of the universal uprising, which was to erupt at the time of the military collapse of the 3rd Reich,” explains Dr. Kaliski. Until then, the fight was ongoing. Its basic forms included sabotage and diversion, combat, retaliation, human resources training, weapons acquisition and production.
In 1942–1945, AK troops performed more than 110 1000 major military-diversity operations. Among them were actions in Celestynowo, during which prisoners transported to Auschwitz were taken, Operation Mountain, i.e. gaining PLN 105 million from the Germans for the activity of the Polish Underground State or the action under Arsenal, erstwhile the prisoners were taken from the hands of the Gestapo, including Jan Bytnar “Rudy”.
The AK soldiers besides executed judgments of the underground courts on traitors, collaborators and high-ranking German officials. An example is execution of the death conviction in Franz Kutscher, SS and Police commander in Warsaw district. In turn AK interview, among others, won a V-2 rocket, the fragments of which were sent together with the description to the UK. An crucial part of the activity of the acoves was propaganda activity among the Polish society, mobilising them to fight and defy and spreading misinformation among the Germans as part of the "N" action.
Warsaw Uprising 1944
In the spring of 1944, the AK began to implement ‘Burza’ planThe goal was to attack the retreating Germans and to act as a host to the entering russian troops. “Unfortunately, the units that fought the Red Army against the Germans were later disarmed by the Soviets, and soldiers arrested or incorporated into the Polish People’s Army,” says the historian. The culmination of the AK's military effort was the Warsaw Uprising.
The underground army was disbanded on 19 January 1945 by General Okulicki in the face of the danger associated with the further operation of troops in the region occupied by the Soviets. However, any of the aquas continued to fight in the anti-communist conspiracy.
– The activities of the National Army helped to preserve our national identity during the war, and to this day it is simply a symbol of integrity in the face of occupation," emphasised Dr. Kaliski. By decision of the Sejm, the day of the establishment of the AK from that year is celebrated as the National Day of Memory of the AK Soldiers.
